This award was established in 1998 in memory of William V. Sliter. The award supports graduate student research in Mesozoic and Cenozoic foraminifera.

Current students with developed research projects in these areas are encouraged to apply for support. To apply you will need to fill out the application form and provide a description of the proposed research, why it is important, a detailed budget with justification for the expenditures and a curriculum vitae. Budgets should provide sufficient detail that a complete understanding of the financial aspects of the proposed work is clear. A letter of support from the student's faculty advisor is also required. These should be sent to Secretary/Treasurer in hard copy or by email. No award will be made for more than $2000. The Board of Directors reserves the right to make no awards or to make awards that differ from the requested budget.

Proposals must be submitted by 1 March. Decisions will be made by the Board of Directors by early April.

A letter reporting the progress of the awardee and use of the Foundation's funds is expected within two years after the award. The Board of Directors hopes that the awardees will submit their results to one of the Foundation's publications, and in any case, requests that acknowledgment of the award be included in any thesis, dissertation or publication that results from work supported by an award of the Foundation.

Proposals will be judged upon scientific merit and financial need. Proposals should consist of an application form, a short (1-3 pages) summary of the student's research, a curriculum vitae, a budget and a letter of support from the advisor. Previous awardees should include a short summary of research completed with the award. Decisions will be made by the Cushman Foundation Board of Directors by early April. Proposals should be submitted by 1 March 2012 and directed to Jennifer Jett, Cushman Foundation, MRC 121 Dept Paleobiology, PO Box 37012, National Museum of Natural History, 10th and Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA or electronically to jettje@si.edu

Previous award winners include:

2008

Christina Belanger, Ph.D. student, University of Chicago, USA - "Benthic Foraminiferal and Molluscan Community Responses to the Miocene Climate Optimum (Early Miocene Astoria Formation, Oregon)"

Briony Mamo, Ph.D. student, Macquarie University, Australia - "Biodiversity, ecology and distribution of benthic foraminiferal assemblages from the southern Great Barrier Reef"

2007

Emily Browning, Ph.D. student, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Department of Geosciences, USA - "Testing the possible linkages between the Miocene Reticulofenestra event (MRE), the biogenic bloom, tropical gateways, and sea level"

Claudia G. Cetean, Ph.D. student, Babes-Bolyai University, Department of Geology, Romania - "Mass Extinction in the Deep Sea: the Cenomanian - Turonian transition in the Romanian Carpathians"

Kendra R. Clark, M.S. student, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Department of Geosciences, USA - "Late Campanian-Maastrichtian planktic foraminiferal biostratigraphy, taxonomy, and isotope paleoecology of ODP sites 1209 and 1210, Leg 198"

2006

Štefan Józsa, PhD student, Dept. of Geology and Paleontology, Commenius University, Slovak Republic - "Planktonic foraminifera of the Aptian black shales of Koňhora formation from Pieniny Klippen Belt, Western Carpathians"

David Mans, MSc student, Geology, Carleton University, Canada - "Foraminiferal Assemblages of the Hasler and Cruiser Formations in Western Canada: Albian to Cenomanian Paleoenvironmental Changes in the Western Interior Sea"

2005

Katherine Johnson, PhD student, Department of Geological Sciences, Ohio State University, USA - "Origins, evolution and linkages between Antarctic (Kerguelen/Prydz Bay) and SW Pacific-Southern Ocean benthic foraminiferal faunas: micropaleontological responses to cryospheric paleoclimate perturbations and deep sea paleoceanographic circulation during the latest Cenozoic (<6.5 mya)"

Maria Liljeroth, Msc student, Geological Museum, University of Copenhagen, Denmark - Biostratigraphy and Paleoecology of the Early Eocene Røsnæs Clay Formation, Denmark

Lóránd Silye, PhD student, Dept. of Geology, Babes-Bolyai University, Romania -"Sarmatian Foraminifera of Southern Transylvanian Basin (Romania): Taxonomy, Biostratigraphy, and Paleoecology"

2004

Ruth Martin - An Investigation of Foraminifera from Cenozoic Cold Hydrocarbon Seeps

2003

Laura Foster - " The 14C Age and Calibration of Last Glacial Interstadial Sediments from NE Atlantic: Novel Approaches Using Planktonic Foraminifera"

2002

Emre Unal - "Survival of the Late Perminan Foraminifera from the P-Tr Crisis: Evidence from the Tauride Carbonates, Hadim, Southern Turkey"